ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Sisters of Mother Katharine,
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

In the person of Saint Katharine Drexel, whose feast we celebrate this day, the Church sets before us the beautiful example of a woman who was truly faithful to God’s word. This consecrated religious constantly strove to achieve the end for which God sent her. Through her long and dedicated life among us, Mother Katharine heeded the bidding of the Wisdom of God that we heard spoken of today in our first reading from The Book of Proverbs. In her own mission she too called "from the heights out over [this very] city: ‘Let whoever is simple turn in here.’"

Our celebration of this feast has an added significance this year for two reasons. First, 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Katharine Drexel. And secondly, this celebration occurs in the midst of the Bicentennial of the Establishment of the Diocese of Philadelphia, where Mother Katharine was born, from which she served, and in which she died. As a canonized saint, her life is offered by the Church as an example to people everywhere of a model of true Christian holiness of life.

As we of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia continue the celebration of our Bicentennial, we could most aptly call Saint Katharine Drexel the patroness of this Jubilee, whose theme is, "Serving the People of God in the Beginning, Now and Always." For, it was in the beginning of this diocese, during its Golden Jubilee Year, that Katharine Drexel was born and, as a child, began to learn firsthand from her father and stepmother the importance of personal prayer and of service to the poor and needy. And now, in this present day, Mother Katharine’s mission to the Native American and Black American peoples continues to thrive in the many foundations throughout the United States and Haiti which were established by her or through her generosity. Finally, Mother Katharine’s devotion to the Holy Eucharist will always edify future generations, where her example will speak clearly to all peoples of the unity we can achieve through Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, what Katharine called "the total gift of self." That message of this Saint from Philadelphia, like the message of Jesus the Bread of Life, is immutable and will always withstand the changes of time.

During this Jubilee Year, we continue, through prayer and good works, to reinvigorate our awareness of the presence and the power of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, in each one of us as an individual and among all of us as a community. In Saint Luke’s Gospel, Our Lord is approached by his Apostles with the challenge— how to feed so many hungry people who have been following Jesus and listening to His message. And Jesus’ response is simple: "Give them some food yourselves." Look at what Jesus did with the Apostles’ meager offering of five loaves and two fish: "all ate and were satisfied."

Look at what Jesus did with the life of Saint Katharine Drexel: unlike many people who hoard their wealth, Mother Katharine gave her entire vast fortune to spread the Gospel to the poor. Her selfless gift throughout the rest of her life, then, was like that of the poor widow, whose donation of a few small coins to the Temple treasury was praised by Jesus because it represented all that she owned.

Besides teaching the Gospel of Christ to the poorest of the poor, and to the most neglected among them, Mother Katharine instilled in the Native American and African American peoples the desire to go and to do the same: to help others learn the Good News of Jesus Christ and to teach this Good News to others. Hers was a life totally devoted to evangelization: she appreciated how Christ works in our day and in our very midst, and she desired to deepen this appreciation in herself and to share it with others as well.

May the message of Saint Katharine Drexel, who "served the People of God in the beginning and now," continue in the future "always," where it can become stronger and more vibrant as the needs of all peoples change and are multiplied. In the words of the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, at Mother Katharine’s canonization homily: May the example of Saint Katharine Drexel help us to appreciate that "no greater treasure can be found in this world than in following Christ with an undivided heart and in using generously the gifts we have received for the service of others and for the building of a more just and fraternal world." And may the good things begun by God in Saint Katharine Drexel’s life, continue to influence us now and always. Amen.